451 ■ TIME-SAVERS 11 Ph oto by Jo sh An on Time-Savers Throughout this book, we’ve provided you with the best techniques for inputting, optimizing, and outputting your images at every stage of the digital workflow. In this last chapter, we’ll present some ways to help you save time and improve your efficiency. Adobe Photoshop has a variety of ways for you to automate many of the tasks that you perform repeatedly. That way, you can spend less time optimizing images and more time being creative either in the field with your camera or in Photoshop! Chapter Contents Actions and Batch Processing Using the Image Processor Creating a Copyright Brush Individualizing Keyboard Shortcuts 607343c11.indd 451 4/13/10 12:04:07 AM 452 c h a p t e r 11: TIME-SAVERS ■ Actions and Batch Processing Time is in short supply for most of us. And if we’re offered a way to get a job done with equal quality but in far less time, most of us would eagerly choose the more effi- cient method…if for no other reason than ultimately it means we’ll have more time to get back to the things we love, such as taking more photos! When it comes to becoming efficient with repetitive tasks in Photoshop, one of the keys is creating actions and applying those actions to a group of images in batch. Actions allow you to automate just about any series of steps you can perform in Photoshop. You can record a series of steps and then have those steps applied to additional images in exactly the same way. Batch processing allows you to apply the action to a group of images at once. The result can be a significant boost to your productivity. Let’s look at an example where we’ll create an action to add the Safe Dodge and Burn layers that we covered in Chapter 6, “Exposure Adjustments.” Creating an Action The Actions panel is “Command Central” for creating and managing your actions. So, start by selecting the Actions panel (shown in Figure 11.1). If it isn’t visible, choose Window > Actions from the menu or use the keyboard shortcut Alt+F9/Option+F9. Figure 11.1 The Actions panel is “Command Central” for creating and managing your actions. In this panel, actions are organized into folders called sets. Photoshop includes a Default Actions set with a variety of included actions, but you should divide your actions into sets that define logical groups. For instance, in this example you may cre- ate a new set called Adjustments to contain the various actions you may utilize when optimizing images. You may create other sets for actions you use for creative effects or for output—such as setting up the template for a business or greeting card, as we discussed in Chapter 10, “Output.” The important thing is to create sets that are log- ical to your particular workow and that will enable you to quickly locate an action. To create a new set, click the Create New Set button at the bottom of the Actions panel. In the New Set dialog box (shown in Figure 11.2), enter a name and click OK. Figure 11.2 The New Set dialog box allows you to create a new set that helps you manage the various categories of actions you’re creating. 607343c11.indd 452 4/13/10 12:04:07 AM 453 ■ ACTIONS AND BATCH PROCESSING Note: Click the fly-out menu on the top right of the Actions panel to access some additional action sets that Adobe includes. Some of these, such as Image Effects, may save you the time of creating an action yourself, and/or you may discover a fun effect to add to an image. For example, with a click of a button we added a snowstorm to this image. However, usually it’s best to create your own actions to meet your specific needs. Ph oto by EllEn An on Note: When creating an action, it’s a good idea to work with a copy of one of your images. Dupli- cate your file before you start creating the action, and use that as the file you adjust in the process of recording the action. With this set active, the next step is to start recording your new action. Click the Create New Action button at the bottom of the Actions panel. In the New Action dialog box (Figure 11.3), enter a descriptive name for this action. For this example, let’s use Dodge and Burn Layers. The Set option defaults to the one that was selected when you created the new action, but you can choose a different set from the drop-down list if desired. The Function Key option allows you to set a shortcut key for the new action you’re creating, which can be convenient if you’re applying this action individually to single images. Finally, the Color setting determines what color the action displays in if you use Button mode for the Actions panel; this allows you to color-code the individual actions. Although some people find this useful for categorizing certain types of actions, we prefer using the default system of grouping actions into sets, so we leave the Color setting at None. 607343c11.indd 453 4/13/10 12:04:08 AM 454 c h a p t e r 11: TIME-SAVERS ■ Figure 11.3 In the New Action dialog box, specify a name for the new action, the folder you want it stored in, and a function key to use as a shortcut key to run the action. Once you’ve established the panel characteristics for the new action, click Record to start actively recording the action. Don’t worry, though—time isn’t an issue. Photo- shop doesn’t record the time you take between your steps but instead records the final result of each step you perform so those steps can be repeated as quickly as possible when you apply the action to an image. You can perform any adjustment or command on an image as part of an action. However, keep in mind that any step that depends on specific positioning within the image can be problematic because image dimensions vary from one photo to the next. In those instances, you may have to include a Stop or Modal control in the action. We’ll cover how to do that later in this chapter. Note: When recording an action, be sure to perform the steps in the order you want them repeated when you run the action. Sometimes it’s helpful to write down the steps ahead of time. But you can revise the settings as often as you need to while recording the action; Photoshop will use only the final result of each step. Note that it will record errors and corrections of steps so that, for example, if a selection is made and then Deselect is used, both commands will be in the action. The steps in the action can be edited, reordered, turned off, duplicated, or deleted later. We’ll record an action to create Safe Dodge and Burn layers as an example. This is a good one for you to try as well. 1. Open the image being used as the example for the action. 2. Select the Actions panel. a. (This step is optional.) Create a new set; we created one called Adjustments. b. Click the new action icon, and name the action. We called ours Dodge and Burn Layers. c. Click the Record button . 3. Open a Curves adjustment layer using the icon for the Adjustment panel at the bottom of the Layers panel, but make no adjustments to the curve. 4. In the Layers panel, change the blending mode for the layer to Multiply. Ini- tially the entire image will appear too dark. 5. Double-click directly on the word Curves, and type Burn. 6. Make certain the layer mask is selected by clicking it, and then choose Edit > Fill > Black. This step fills the layer mask with black to completely hide the darkening effect we introduced in Step 3. 7. Open a second Curves adjustment layer, by clicking the left-facing arrow at the bottom of the Adjustment panel and then clicking the Curves icon again. Again make no adjustments to the curve. 607343c11.indd 454 4/13/10 12:04:09 AM 455 ■ ACTIONS AND BATCH PROCESSING 8. Change the blending mode for the layer to Screen. Initially the entire image will appear too light. 9. Double-click directly on the word Curves, and type Dodge. 10. Choose Edit > Fill > Black. 11. Click the Brush tool to select it. 12. Change the opacity of the brush in the toolbar to about 15%. Including Steps 11 and 12 in the action will mean that you’re ready to start the actual dodging and burning on the image after you run the action. 13. Click the Stop button to stop recording. Note: Although selecting any brush-based tool is recordable, actually using the brush to perform any brush strokes is not recordable. So if you try to paint in the layer mask, that will not be recorded. You’ve now created an action, which you can apply to an individual image or to many images at once by using batch processing. Each step in the action can be viewed within the Actions panel, as shown in Figure 11.4. Anytime you want to run the action, have the image open, open the Actions panel, select the action, and click the Play icon . If you created a keyboard shortcut for the action, just press the short- cut key to run the action on an open image. Figure 11.4 The Actions panel will show each of the steps in the action. When you create an action that you’re likely to use on a batch of images, we recommend saving the image and closing the file as the last steps in the action. Obvi- ously this isn’t practical in an action such as the one we just created—but that’s an action geared primarily toward use on one image at a time. By saving and closing the file within the action, you help ensure that each processed image is saved and closed correctly. Always save your action set after recording a new action. A system crash or improper shutdown will wipe out any new actions. To prevent accidentally losing the action, you must save the action set by using the panel menu in the Actions panel, shown in Figure 11.5, and choosing Save Actions. 607343c11.indd 455 4/13/10 12:04:09 AM 456 c h a p t e r 11: TIME-SAVERS ■ Figure 11.5 Saving your action set is essential so you don’t accidentally lose your actions. Advanced Controls in Actions Creating a basic action is pretty simple and straightforward, but at times you may need to do something a little fancier. For example, perhaps you want to be able to change the values used in some of the dialog boxes in the action. In that case, you need a modal control. A modal control pauses the action at the point where you need to fill in the appropriate settings. You can also use a modal control to enable you to use any of the tools, such as Crop or Transform, that require you to press Enter/ Return to apply them. When the action comes to that step, it pauses and cues you to perform the necessary task. When you’re done, you click OK in the dialog box or press Enter/Return, and the action resumes playing. Essentially, the modal control simply turns on any dialog box associated with the step. To create a modal control for a specific step of an action, click the empty box to the left of that step (see Figure 11.6). Clicking the icon toggles it on and off. If you toggle the modal control off, the action will use the settings you used while recording the action. An action that contains modal controls will have a red modal icon by its name. Note: Occasionally you may encounter a problem with an action if the image you’re applying it to has a different size or orientation from the one on which you recorded. Changing the Ruler to Percent while recording sometimes corrects such problems. 607343c11.indd 456 4/13/10 12:04:09 AM 457 ■ ACTIONS AND BATCH PROCESSING Figure 11.6 Modal controls enable you to change settings in dialog boxes while running an action. Although many tasks can be automated using actions, any task that requires something to be done at a specific position in the image may present a problem with images of different sizes, resolutions, or orientations. For example, creating a single action to apply a copyright to the lower-right corner of an image is more challenging than it would seem because of different image sizes and resolutions. Most tools can be recorded, but some—such as the painting tools—cannot. One thing that can help is to insert a Stop into the action. A Stop lets you per- form a task that cannot be recorded—such as creating a selection. To include a Stop in an action, click the command just prior to where you want the Stop to occur. Click the Actions panel drop-down menu (Figure 11.7) and choose Insert Stop. This will cause a message box to appear in which you type instructions to yourself so you remember what you need to do. When you’re done, click the Play button to continue the action. You can insert the Stop while recording the action or after you’re done. Figure 11.7 Choose Insert Stop from the panel menu in the Actions panel and complete the message box. 607343c11.indd 457 4/13/10 12:04:10 AM 458 c h a p t e r 11: T I M E-SAVE R S ■ Another use of Stops is to record a reminder or message as to what should be done at a particular step. To do this, you follow the same steps as we just described, but you must check the option Allow Continue. When the message box appears dur- ing the action, the user can read the message and then click Continue rather than stop- ping the action. Inevitably there will be times you’ll record an action with steps you no longer want included, or you’ll realize that you left something out. Although you could start over and record a new action, sometimes it’s easier to revise the existing action. Removing a step from an action is easy. Choose the action in the Actions panel, and reveal the steps by clicking the expansion arrow. Choose the step you want to remove, and either drag it to the trash can icon or click the trash can icon. To add one or more steps to the action, choose the action and use the expansion arrow to reveal the steps. Choose the step just prior to where you want to begin the additional steps. Click the Record button and record the missing steps. When you’re done recording the additional steps, click the Stop button. For Photoshop Elements Users: Custom Actions Unfortunately, it is not possible to record actions directly in Elements, but Photo Effects are in essence prerecorded actions. With a bit of hacking, it is possible to load certain other pre- recorded actions from CS5 into Elements as additional Photo Effects. However, because this is not a supported workflow and is sometimes unreliable, we will not cover it here. There are third-party tools (such as Add-O-Matic, available at http://www.graficalicus.com) that automate the hackery and make it easy to load CS5 actions into Elements. Just keep in mind that the actions aren’t guaranteed to function properly. Also, feel free to see if your favorite set of third-party actions has installation instructions for Elements. Batch Processing As you can see, recording an action is relatively straightforward. Just start recording, perform the steps you want included in the action, and then stop recording. Where many photographers run into trouble is in attempting to apply the action in a batch to a series of images, which is, ironically, where you achieve the real benefit of actions. The problem is with the confusing choices that are offered to you in the Batch dialog box. To get started, select the action you want to apply to a group of images from the Actions panel. Then choose File > Automate > Batch from the menu, which brings up the Batch dialog box (shown in Figure 11.8). Because you selected an action first, the Set and Action drop-down lists default to the action you want to apply to your images. Note: When you’re applying an action to a group of images in batch, we recommend copying the image files to a separate folder to protect the originals. For Photoshop Elements Users: Custom Actions Unfortunately, it is not possible to record actions directly in Elements, but Photo Effects are in essence prerecorded actions. With a bit of hacking, it is possible to load certain other pre - recorded actions from CS5 into Elements as additional Photo Effects. However, because this is not a supported workflow and is sometimes unreliable, we will not cover it here. There are third-party tools (such as Add-O-Matic, available at http://www.graficalicus.com ) that automate the hackery and make it easy to load CS5 actions into Elements. Just keep in mind that the actions aren’t guaranteed to function properly. Also, feel free to see if your favorite set of third-party actions has installation instructions for Elements. 607343c11.indd 458 4/13/10 12:04:10 AM . in Photoshop, one of the keys is creating actions and applying those actions to a group of images in batch. Actions allow you to automate just about any series of steps you can perform in Photoshop. . action. Removing a step from an action is easy. Choose the action in the Actions panel, and reveal the steps by clicking the expansion arrow. Choose the step you want to remove, and either. click the trash can icon. To add one or more steps to the action, choose the action and use the expansion arrow to reveal the steps. Choose the step just prior to where you want to begin the additional